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MVC Comics - Collected Info About Emiliano's Ideas for the Comic

Hello everyone!

It has recently come to my attention that this thread has, regrettably, become a source of contention between two paragons of MOTU-related lore. As I have explained to both parties, both have personally treated me with respect and friendship, and so I don't want to do anything that would seem like I'm trying to take a side. My admiration for what both parties have (and continue to) bring to the community is extreme. And, moreover, I just want to do whatever i can to maintain harmonious relations with my fellow collectors and fans, and help spread love for and knowledge related to the MOTU/POP mythos wherever I can.

With that said, I have voluntarily (and sadly) chosen to re-post the information that was originally contained in this post as a locked document that only I can edit (to avoid any claims to the contrary). That document can be found here. Also, the full bible itself can now be found elsewhere, and it's definitely worth a read. Out of respect for all involved, I have chosen not to post a direct link here, but am nonetheless confident that those who seek this knowledge will just as surely find it on Facebook or elsewhere--just as Teela'Na found Castle Grayskull (the original storehouse of knowledge) when she sought aid in the Wastes.

Rather than delete the thread in totum, however, I have left it in tact, so as to preserve the fascinating conversations that followed, and the wondrous artworks included on Page 5.

You might also want to put in there that the gem seed and Hero's staff were formed from a small portion of the star seed, the element that created the big bag. It reinforces how powerful the gem seed is and working with Light Hope from the book of living spells this was how the Gem Seed was able to begin the rebirth of Etheria.

This also gives new meaning to the reasion why Light Hope said in the Filmation episode "Welcome She-Ra long have I awated your comming". The moment She-Ra enteres the crystal castle with the sword of protection both haves of the gem seed come into contact again as the other half of the gem seed still resides in the crystal castle.

It would have been intresting to know if the star sisters would have been worked into the crystal castle lore, with the crystal caverns being just below it on sky dancer?

PRO CLASSIC POP TOY DESIGN ELEMENTS BEING USED IN MOTUC TO COMPLEMENT THE FILMATION DESIGNS!!!!

I FULLY SUPPORT THE INCLUSION OF ILLUMINA IN MOTUC!!!!!

IF YOUR SICK OF WAITING FOR A LIGHT TO APPEAR AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, STRIDE DOWN THERE AND LIGHT THE BLOODY THING YOURSELF!!!!!!!

Okay... here we go, this is what we can tell you for now aboutILLUMINA
She's an old Gar with light related powers. She can control lights and she can blind adversaries when she fights.
Think Dazzler, but without the rock singer part
She's a formidable fighter, especially with melee weapons; in general her fighting skills are equal if not superior to a young Man-At-Arms, and also to a young Dekker.
She's also a great strategist and wanders Eternia as a sort of nomadic secret agent....

Take part in Illumina Day! Let people know who she is and help get her in MOTUC.

Thanks, Angel-T—I went back and found the information in the original threads and added it!

Jukka, I hope you're right about Trap-Jaw picking up the fragment at the end of that story. I've always wondered about that!

Thanks, SlyVenom!

Great catch, Darkspecter, and thanks for including the direct quote / link! Consider it added!

Additionally, I went back and found some questions from those original threads that (as far as I can tell) went unanswered. Maybe Emiliano would be kind enough to share some more details with us now if he's able...

Originally Posted by PanMan

We heard the backstory on the Central tower and Grayskull tower, but what about Viper tower?? I can only assume it has something to do with the Snakemen. Any info you can divuldge on that?

About the Shakaran crystal, who stole the shard at the end of issue 4?

Did [Evil-Lyn] hear the sorceress reveal Adam's secret while in Castle Grayskull? She made a noise on that panel. If she did overhear this bit of info, would she keep it to herself or tell someone like Skeletor? Also, did you plan to have her turn good, because at the end of vol 3 issue 6 the Faceless One talks to He-Man about "sewing the seeds of rebirth rather than death" and that "the future will be made from such compassion...and wisdom". So perhaps Evil Lyn does know He-Man's secret now but she will protect it and turn good thanks to He-Man saving her life? Or am I reading too much into this

Originally Posted by Trodorne

Was Etheria going to be like a Binary star to eternia. cause even though they could be close together. like someone mentioned that eternia would have been shielded and hidden from the rest of the universe by the despondos barrier. cause it would explain how etheria could share the same moons but not be seen as they would be two far apart and revolve around each other.

Originally Posted by KingRandor82

what was up with Anwat Gar? I sense you guys were gonna delve further into it. Please do share.

Originally Posted by Telkan2

(1) Can you shed some light on Marlena's origins (from an MVC-perspective)? Was she the descendant of Grayskull's bloodline, or was it Randor--I've seen conflicting answers over the years? (2) What about the Sorceress--can you tell us anymore about her, and what you may have had planned for her?

Originally Posted by gbagok

the info about Veena and the Sword of Protection has me wondering: is she connected to Angella somehow too? Would you have brought back Angella's kingdom in Mizar (with winged people like her), or was she to have been a unique being descendant from Veena (and therefore another distant relative of the Sorceress, Teela, and She-Ra and He-man)?

Originally Posted by Angel-T

I thought the whole of He-Ro's Staff was made from a protion of the star seed (gem included), thats why I thought the gem seed was also a part of the star seed because in your interview in toy fair you said the original staff was made from the starseed before it was melted down into the swords of power and protection. Is the gem on top of He-Ro's staff from somewhere else? In the interview your answer reads like the whole of He-Ro's staff came from the star seed.

if Nordor (as an achient) knew Adam & Adora were destined to become He-Man & She-Ra how then did their identies remain secret in your story. When Adora turned against the Horde surely Horde Prime would have simply instructed Hordak to Kill the prince & princess while in there untransformed state? Maybe when Nordor was split into Horde Prime & The beast in the Sharkarian crystal he lost asscee to his full knowledge as an achient. I can't think of anyother way it would have worked out. This would also tie in with what the Sorceress said in SOTS when she said " he knew they were both destined for something special, but he didn't know exactly what!"

Originally Posted by King Tycho

Who were the other ancients? Were there any more stories planned for them? Were they to return when balance was restored to the universe?

This info sadly wont make it's way into MOTUC, its part of the extended MVC comic series "randor mini series". I think I saw it written on the boards somewhere Mattel had originally approved this new story arch, but they put it on ice when they started to kill off 200x MOTU in 2005. All this info was found in the MV creations comic book bible which is it's own cannon. Sadly Mattel have refused to let Val and Emiliano post the bible so fans could see where the comic was going. As far as I am concerned it's the biggest slap in the face they could give he-man.org. What harm could it do to the brand by letting the 200x fans see where this fantastic comic was going.

But I know one thing, from the info that has been released by Emiliano it has filled in the blanks for my own personal cannon. Perticularly the story elements concernign the Gem Seed, sword of protection and the crystal castle and the ultimate destany for She-Ra, her purpose and the final explanation of her extra powers over and above he-man. I think val & emiliano knocked it out of the part with their planned story. Hopefully one day they will post the MVC comic bible and fans will finally be able to get the complete picture and see in detail the final ending we have been waiting for since our childhoods.

I remember seeing it written somewhere an ending was planned.

She-Ra & He-Man kill hordak;
Skeletor is redeemed by raising the sword of power above his head and invoking the "I have the power" incantation;
Skeletor becomes Keldor once more;
Keldor then sacrafices himself, by distroying Nordor / Horde Prime by driving the sword of power through his chest!

Last edited by Angel-T; August 25, 2010 at 06:55pm.

PRO CLASSIC POP TOY DESIGN ELEMENTS BEING USED IN MOTUC TO COMPLEMENT THE FILMATION DESIGNS!!!!

I FULLY SUPPORT THE INCLUSION OF ILLUMINA IN MOTUC!!!!!

IF YOUR SICK OF WAITING FOR A LIGHT TO APPEAR AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, STRIDE DOWN THERE AND LIGHT THE BLOODY THING YOURSELF!!!!!!!

I was just looking at the sketch of Illumina's mount and realized that the Council of Wisdom's crescent symbol appears on the saddle. Is there a connection between the Council and Illumina (and by extension the Guardians of Grayskull) as well?

What was the timeframe for the first of the Great Wars? Did it occur during He-Ro's / King Grayskull's life, significantly before, etc.?

We know that Infinitia was left burning following Nordor's actions. What exactly did he do?

Angel-T, the ending you were discussing wasn't set in stone. Emiliano was simply explaining how he and Val differed a bit in regards to the possible ending.

There were so many wonderful things they were going to do in this series. It still bums me out that Mattel wouldn't let it happen because I honestly think it would have been amazing. The comic was the best thing to happen to MOTU since the 80s IMO. MVC took the elements which made MOTU great and elaborated on them with skill and with love for the source material.

Angel-T, here's the interesting "end chapter" stuff. Awhile back Emiliano posted this tidbit about what might have happened way down the line. I like the idea of eventual redemption for Skeletor, but only after he does some really bad stuff. On one hand, he's the ultimate MOTU villain and it eventually should come down to Skeletor being the biggest bad of all. However, after all that is said and done, there is always this chance for him to finally see the good and redeem himself. Maybe.

Here's the quote:

Originally Posted by Emiliano

Me and Val had different point of view on that. I wanted to see some sort of redemption, Val wanted him to chose to stay evil at the end.
So , who knows. We wanted an end, with a final confrontation with Nordor involving She-Ra and Hordak as well.
And Skeletor would have played a big part regardless.
If it was me, he would have been the one ending the conflict.
I had this sequence in mind, probably the very last issue, where He-Man and She-Ra finally kill Hordak and then He-Man turns back to Adam, give the sword to Skeletor that invokes the Power of Grayskull!
He's transformed in something new and somehow, after many year, he's face hes' restored to his young self.
But there is no time to be happy for that as Keldor sacrifice himslef stabbing Nordor inside his giant mechanical body and dying in the explosion that ends the Horde empire forever.

Our idea behind this story was to combine both the classic cartoon Faker, and the classic toy Faker, while putting him into a fun, new concept for the relaunch.
Every character had the potential for a big story with a lot of impact, and our plan was to make sure that happened as the series progressed.
We aimed to balance classic elements with the new story and make them exciting to readers.
It's a hard act to balance and we know not everyone will be on board.

We included the blue skinned Faker from the toy (both classic and new). And let's be honest here. How many times could that Faker lure MOTU heroes into a trap? Never. Not a single time.

And in the classic cartoon, he did just that, but he was also nearly as strong as He-Man, matching him in every way.
That not only make him deceiving, but also a force to deal with.
Only problem was that he was visually identical to He-Man except for some glowing eyes.

I wasn't big on the potential cartoon direction of Faker.
How long before Man-at-Arms figured out a way to put him out of commission?
And how long before more and more of those robots came into play, since Man-at-Arms seemed to be able to create them so easily?
We wanted Faker to be unique in all ways.

I have to agree with Val about Skeletor, keep him evil till the end, I don't like the idea of him being redeemable. I like him killing Horde Prime though, just for his own purposes.

I wonder if you can expand on this Emiliano? If you had gone is this direction just what would have been Skeletor's motivation for turning good again? Did he find something out about his past or maybe something to do with Miro or his mother? Also what would make Adam trust him enough to hand him the power sword? Maybe the Sorceress told him he could now be trusted?

IIRC, Kronis also was another former Guardian of Grayskull for a while, as part of his scheme to get closer to the "Champion of the Past".

I loved how it was hinted in The Shard of Darkness, that there would be more behind Tri-Klops than meets the eye. And after his Icons of Evil one-shot, I believe Val also mentioned that he might have overcome Keldor's "loyalty" spell at one time. Did you have any further plans for Tri-Klops?

If knowledge serves me right, there also was an Icons of Evil issue planned for Evil-Lyn, but canned by Mattel in favor of telling how she met Keldor in "The Price of Deceit". Was the comic supposed to tell what we saw in the cartoon episode, or did it have a different story?

I like the idea of Skeletor redeeming himself in the final story. I also totally digged that Keldor is sort of a wild card in the prophecy; and I wonder if it may be more than just coincidence that a decendant of King GraySKULL ends up with a SKULLface while constantly trying to conquer a SKULLshaped castle.

I believe there also were some B/W pages of the Randor miniseries shown online? Does anyone still have those?

Okay, let's try to answer some questions.
Onlya few, but more will come

A premise though. This is strictly my personal vision fro 2002 series.
I'm pretty sure this is the same for Val: if we had to create our story from scratch before the MYP cartoon was introduced, we'd have done things differently.
At the same time, if we had chance to write stories for MOTUC, starting with a clean slate, things would have been differently too.
I'm saying this because I want to make clear these background story were meant to build up and go along with the MYO cartoon, tryign to solve some fo the problems and expanding on its concepts.

Originally Posted by PanMan

We heard the backstory on the Central tower and Grayskull tower, but what about Viper tower?? I can only assume it has something to do with the Snakemen. Any info you can divuldge on that?

If I remember correctly, the Hiss house fought during the Great Wars too and aided the Ancients. As the Grayskulls, as a tribute for their loaylty, a tower was built close to the Central Tower. That happened before the Grayskull Tower was built and when this former one was created some rivarly started to arise between the houses.

About the Shakaran crystal, who stole the shard at the end of issue 4?

That was an important plot point. Val, correct me if I'm wrong here.
Kobra Khan was the one that stole the shard. He then offered it to Evil-Lyn, asking for her help to free King Hsss in return.
That's also why EL is so powerful in the Rise of the Snake Men mini series.

Did Evil-Lyn hear the sorceress reveal Adam's secret while in Castle Grayskull? She made a noise on that panel. If she did overhear this bit of info, would she keep it to herself or tell someone like Skeletor?

No, she didn't, she was completely uncounscious.

Also, did you plan to have her turn good, because at the end of vol 3 issue 6 the Faceless One talks to He-Man about "sewing the seeds of rebirth rather than death" and that "the future will be made from such compassion...and wisdom".

We didn't have specific plans into turning Evil-Lyn good. But for sure, between her relationship with her father and Keldor we could have took her to a point where she was questioning her actions and morality. it would have been cool to make her a possible key to Skeletor redemption and then having her greed and foolishness completely messing these chances.

Originally Posted by Trodorne

Was Etheria going to be like a Binary star to eternia. cause even though they could be close together. like someone mentioned that eternia would have been shielded and hidden from the rest of the universe by the despondos barrier. cause it would explain how etheria could share the same moons but not be seen as they would be two far apart and revolve around each other.

Hmm, some astronomy questions here!
Well, in the story Etheria wasn't in the same solar system. It was glaxies far away from Eternia. It was Infinitia that was in a binary system with Eternia, before its fall.
Once the prophecy is accomplished and the Despondos barrier falls, Etheri will take the spot left by Infinitia in the same binary sytem.

Originally Posted by KingRandor82

what was up with Anwat Gar? I sense you guys were gonna delve further into it. Please do share.

Beign completely honest, I can't remember specif plans for Awat Gar. Val?
All I cna think of is that we probably would have made it a sort of embassy of the people from Infinitia before the Great Wars, but it's just an idea.

Originally Posted by Telkan2

(1) Can you shed some light on Marlena's origins (from an MVC-perspective)? Was she the descendant of Grayskull's bloodline, or was it Randor--I've seen conflicting answers over the years?

MVC plans for Marlena GLENN:
She was an astronaut from Earth, travelling into space aboard her shuttle, the "Rainbow Warrior" that crashed on Eternia were she fell in love with a young King named Randor
I think there was no doubt Randor was Grayskull descendent, and all the talk abotu Marlena was pure speculation.

(2) What about the Sorceress--can you tell us anymore about her, and what you may have had planned for her?

We didn't want to change much. Of course, plans would have been to explore more the realtionship with Teela and MAA, and at one point she would have died and been replaced by Teela -as the Goddes.

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by gbagok

the info about Veena and the Sword of Protection has me wondering: is she connected to Angella somehow too?

Nah, just because they both have wings, it doens't mean they are related.
I have an hard time thinking that any of the characters on Etheria can be remotely connected to someone on a planet distant billions and billions of lightyears. Only Adora is there, because she came with the Horde.

Would you have brought back Angella's kingdom in Mizar ?

Absolutely yes, no changes there. The rule was to respect the original canon as much as possible, so unless something in the new cartoon forced us to find other solutions, everything should have remained the same, no reason to make uncalled changes.

That was an important plot point. Val, correct me if I'm wrong here.
Kobra Khan was the one that stole the shard. He then offered it to Evil-Lyn, asking for her help to free King Hsss in return.
That's also why EL is so powerful in the Rise of the Snake Men mini series.

Nah, the reason she's so powerful at the end of ROTSM is because, unbeknownst to the reader, Evil-Lyn had then embedded the shard into her staff crystal.

When she helped King Hiss, she was secretly doing it to absorb part of his power into her staff,
which the crystal essentially amplifies in some sort of way.

Evil-Lyn got angry at the end of the story, and basically drained the battery on her staff; depleting the energy she had just collected,
while turning it back on the snake men.
And because the magic was snake magic, that's why it was also so powerful in destroying so many Snake men.
power of the shard + added power from King Hiss + nature of snake magic turned back on the Snake Men = why she was so powerful there at the end.

In fairness, she still didn't know the extent of what the shard could do either, and that would be an on-going experience for her as the story went on in the regular series.

Nah, the reason she's so powerful at the end of ROTSM is because, unbeknownst to the reader, Evil-Lyn had then embedded the shard into her staff crystal.

When she helped King Hiss, she was secretly doing it to absorb part of his power into her staff,
which the crystal essentially amplifies in some sort of way.

Evil-Lyn got angry at the end of the story, and basically drained the battery on her staff; depleting the energy she had just collected,
while turning it back on the snake men.
And because the magic was snake magic, that's why it was also so powerful in destroying so many Snake men.
power of the shard + added power from King Hiss + nature of snake magic turned back on the Snake Men = why she was so powerful there at the end.

In fairness, she still didn't know the extent of what the shard could do either, and that would be an on-going experience for her as the story went on in the regular series.

Thanks for jumping in Val! I hope you'll join Emiliano in sharing some tidbits about the comic! Speaking of which, I posed this two questions to him once before and he implied that you might be the one to ask about this:

Originally Posted by Telkan2

Who was Schneidor (from the first issue of the second MVC storyline), and what was his connection to the Horde?

The Padaween Stone (same volume / issue) looked very similar to the Cosmic Key seen in a certain live-action movie. Was it the Thenurians (Gwildor's people) that built Schneidor's temple, and if so what was their connection to the Horde?

Emiliano, could you elaborate on King Hiss and his origins? He tends to remain in human form much of the time. Why is that?

Val or Emiliano, I thought I heard something about a spell on Cringer. Would you mind elaborating on this spell?

Thanks guys!

Re: Faker - I actually really like what I've gleaned about the ideas MVC had for this character. The "opposite dimension" cyborg, blue-skinned King He-Man idea hinted at in the comic just sounded cool IMO. The idea of an evil version of He-Man, with his associated motivations and inner-conflicts, is far more interesting to me than a robot built by Man-At-Arms and left in the royal junkyard.

Re: Faker - I actually really like what I've gleaned about the ideas MVC had for this character. The "opposite dimension" cyborg, blue-skinned King He-Man idea hinted at in the comic just sounded cool IMO. The idea of an evil version of He-Man, with his associated motivations and inner-conflicts, is far more interesting to me than a robot built by Man-At-Arms and left in the royal junkyard.

Gotta agree. It surely would have been interesting to see how exactly things went on that Mirror-World Eternia*.
*On a side note: Kinda fitting that the 6-part story was printed in Germany since that's where the famous "Anti-Eternia" audio play (featuring an evil He-Man, Orko and Man-At-Arms) originated from and still is regarded as the best of the entire series.

Originally Posted by JVS3

Nah, the reason she's so powerful at the end of ROTSM is because, unbeknownst to the reader, Evil-Lyn had then embedded the shard into her staff crystal.
...
In fairness, she still didn't know the extent of what the shard could do either, and that would be an on-going experience for her as the story went on in the regular series.

Oh, I just remembered, wasn't that shard also the explaination of the "Classic Colors" Evil-Lyn Staction? I think you once stated that the shard ultimately would've turned her skin yellow.

I went through it and have a few minor edits. From Emiliano's latest answers, it seems that Viper tower was built before Grayskull tower (the order is not mentioned in your encyclopedia). Also, you use both "Eternal" and later "Timeless" to describe the Overlords of the Eternal/Timeless Dimension. Maybe list that both of these are possibilities/acceptable?

I really like this origin for Faker, though I'm not generally a big fan of alternate realities. I think I would like it best if this was a rare/isolated incident of crossing realities.

And regarding the fate of Skeletor, I am fully in agreement with Val. I think he should have stayed evil in the end. I'd like to think that he would eventually become the big bad, conquering the Horde/Hiss and getting a stranglehold on the universe, before ultimately falling to He-Man in the end. I can see what Emiliano's trying to do here, but in my opinion it weakens the character. Though it is nice to see differing opinions on this from a lot of people here